Good morning, Mets fans!

Days until pitchers and catchers report: two days

Days until Opening Day: 47 days

Latest Mets News

Jessica Mendoza has resigned from her job as special advisor for the New York Mets. Brodie Van Wagenen and the Mets released a statement on her resignation. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Mendoza has resigned as Mets advisor and will continue to work for ESPN. It was later reporter, by AP Sports, that she had signed a contract extension with ESPN, but will remain there as an analyst, according to AP Sports.

Brian Schneider is going to assume the role of quality control coach in lieu of Luis Rojas‘ promotion to manager. The Mets announce this hire on Twitter. Schneider was supposed to serve as Triple-A manager for the Syracuse Mets. He spent the last four years as catching coach for the Miami Marlins. After his 13-year career playing professional ball, he managed the Single-A affiliate for the Marlins.

Latest MLB News

The Boston Red Sox’s manager search is rumored to be over. MLBTR writer, Steve Adams, reported that the team plans to hire Ron Roenicke as their 47th manager.

Speaking of the Red Sox, MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, believes that he will come to a conclusion on the Red Sox possible cheating scandal next week, according to AP Sports.

The Dodgers have agreed to a two-year deal with INF/OF Chris Taylor, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.

Marly Rivera of ESPN, reported that Kendrys Morales has officially announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.

Bob Nightengale, of USA Today, reported that the San Francisco Giants have signed both OF Billy Hamilton and RHP Nick Vincent to minor league contracts.

Hunter Pence is going back to the San Francisco Giants, his deal is official according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

The MLBPA made an announcement on Friday afternoon stating that the reported deal between the Dodgers, Red Sox, Twins, and Angels must be resolved as soon a possible as it is unfair to the players and their families to have their fate in limbo. The Players Association also mentioned that the “unethical leaking of medical information” is unacceptable and reveals how players are “treated as commodities” rather than people.

Baseball America posted an article ranking the minor league baseball broadcasts.

Sean Forman was awarded SABR‘s Conference Lifetime Achievement award.

Reliever, Jake Petricka, is in agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Robert Murray.

The Texas Rangers have signed RHP Cody Allen to a minor-league deal with an invite to major league spring training.

Cameron Rupp was signed to a minor-league deal by the Cleveland Indians and was invited to major league camp.

Latest on MMO

Pat Ragazzo wrote about just how important is it for Jeurys Familia to perform this upcoming season in order for the Mets to reach their potential.

Mike Mayer continues MMO,’s Top 30 Mets prospect list with No. 18, RHP Dedniel Nunez.

Jack Hendon engages fans with an article on how former Met, Pedro Martinez, has helped Edwin Diaz prepare for the 2020 season.

On This Date in Mets History

1979: Jesse Orosco becomes the PTBNL in the Mets trade of Jerry Koosman to the Twins.

The post Morning Briefing: Mendoza Resigns As Special Advisor appeared first on Metsmerized.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Cody Allen will sign a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Allen, 30, signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels in the offseason with the hopes that he would rebound from a rough 2018 season in which he registered a 4.70 ERA, 4.56 FIP, and 1.358 WHIP.

However, the right-hander actually regressed even further as he had a 6.26 ERA, 8.34 FIP, 1.913 WHIP, and 7.8 BB/9 before being DFA’d and eventually released by the Angels earlier in the week.

The Florida native’s career numbers tell a different story, though, as he’s recorded 153 saves over eight seasons in addition to having a 3.14 ERA, 3.43 FIP, and 1.225 WHIP.

One encouraging statistic for Allen is the fact that his SO/9 is still in line with his career numbers as he is still averaging 11.3 SO/9 as compared to 11.5 SO/9 for his career.

That being said, the walks are concerning over the past two seasons as he averaged 2.8 BB/9 in 2017 before seeing his BB/9 go up to 4.4 in 2018 and then reach an abysmal level of 7.8 BB/9 in 2019.

Nonetheless, Allen is a worthwhile gamble given the fact the Twins will only be responsible for paying him the major league minimum if he were to be added to the Twins’ MLB roster.

With the Mets’ bullpen ranking among the worst in baseball and the fact that his former pitching coach was Mickey Callaway, it would have made sense for the Mets to take a chance on him.

The post MLB News: Cody Allen To Sign Minors Deal With Minnesota Twins appeared first on Metsmerized.

Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic reports that the Los Angeles Angels have designated Cody Allen for assignment.

Allen, 30, signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Angels in the offseason that did not work out. The right-handed reliever appeared in 25 games in which he registered a 6.26 ERA, 8.33 FIP, and 1.913 FIP. He did, though, manage to also strike out 29 batters in that span (11.3 SO/9).

For his career overall, largely spent with the Indians, Allen has been much better than he was in his time with the Angels, with 153 saves to go along with a 3.14 ERA, 3.43 FIP, and 1.913 WHIP.

However, he hasn’t been that guy since 2017, which happens to be the last year Mickey Callaway was the team’s pitching coach before taking the Mets’ manager job.

With a bullpen that is currently struggling mightily, it is certainly possible that the Mets will take a flier on Allen.

The post MLB News: Angels DFA Cody Allen appeared first on Metsmerized.

Good morning Mets fans! The Mets had a rough return to action on Friday night in a rain-delayed game that saw them lose by a score of 10-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Noah Syndergaard (1-2, 5.90 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets tonight at 7:10 p.m. in the second game of a three-game set against the Brewers who will counter Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 5.81 ERA). The game will air on FS1 and WPIX.

Latest Mets News 

To make room for deGrom on the roster, the Mets optioned Jacob Rhame to the minor leagues. He will serve his two-game suspension when he comes back to the big-league roster.

The Mets also recalled Corey Oswalt and sent Luis Guillorme back to the Major-League roster.

Now for some injury news on some old, albeit, probably forgotten friends:

Mickey Callaway told the press that Yoenis Cespedes is now hitting off of a tee.

Jed Lowrie is playing in extended spring training games.

Latest News in the MLB

The Rockies acquired reliever James Pazos from the Phillies.

The Tigers put Jordan Zimmerman on the 10-day IL with a UCL sprain.

The Angels placed Cody Allen on the 10-day IL with a lumbar spine strain.

Trevor Rosenthal, the pitcher with the infinity ERA in his first four appearances, fell on the IL with a viral infection.

Highly-touted prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.made his MLB debut last night and registered his first hit late that led to a walk-off victory for the Toronto Blue Jays.

In order to reinstate Eloy Jimenez from the bereavement list, the White Sox DFA’d Ervin Santana.

Latest in the NL East 

MLB.com No. 24 ranked prospect Carter Kieboom made his MLB debut last night, going 1-for-4 with his first major league home run.

Max Scherzer recorded his 2,500th strikeout, becoming the 35th player to achieve that feat. For the record, 167 of them have been Mets.

Latest on MMO

John Sheridan highlighted Zack Wheeler‘s amazin’ week.

Mike Silva published his latest Talkin’ Mets podcast.

Marshall Field previewed the Mets-Brewers series.

Tim Ryder has faith in Robert Gsellman.

Michael Mayer recapped the week in  the Mets farm with his new series: This Week in the Mets farm

On this Date in Mets history

1964: The Mets added Yogi Berra as a coach to function a player-coach.

Birthdays: Orber Moreno (43), Bob MacDonald(54), Eric Hillman (54), Frank Catalanotto(46),

The post Morning Briefing: Syndergaard Looks To Get Mets Back on Track appeared first on Metsmerized.

The New York Yankees signed right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino on Thursday to a three-year deal and the Los Angeles Angels have an agreement in place for righty Cody Allen.

While Ottavino was one the better relievers still on the market (2.6 bWAR in 2018), there’s still some value left and the Mets certainly could use at least one more piece.

The obvious top arm on the market, despite not being his dominant self in 2018, is former Braves and Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel.

Let’s take a look at a few of the other relievers still available and key stats.

Greg Holland, RHP – The 2018 season got off to a brutal start (7.99 first half ERA and 2.20 WHIP) after signing very late in the offseason (March 31) with the St. Louis Cardinals. The former Royals closer was a much different pitcher after signing with the Nationals in August. In 21.1 innings he posted a 0.84 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 0.89 WHIP and allowed only nine hits. Key Stat: Slider was dominant with Nationals, held opponents to .051 SLG in August and .111 SLG in September.

Brad Brach, RHP – Bad timing for the 32-year-old to have a down year (1.60 WHIP, 0.3 bWAR). However, Brach was much better for the Braves after being shipped there from the Orioles, he posted 1.52 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 8.4 H/9 in 23.2 innings for Atlanta. Brach has been the focus of numerous Mets trade rumors in the past when he was a valuable reliever (1.2 bWAR in 2017, 2.5 bWAR in 2016, 2.0 bWAR in 2015) for the Orioles. Key Stat: Six straight seasons with HR/9 below 1.0.

Xavier Cedeno, LHP – The 32-year-old was non-tendered by the Brewers despite a strong 2018 campaign (2.43 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) between Milwaukee and the White Sox. Walks were the biggest issue for Cedeno in 2018 with 16 (4.3 BB/9) in 33.1 innings, though he struck out 34 in that span. Held lefties to .207/.281/.293 slash line in 2018, and a .583 OPS for his career. Key Stat: Only allowed five runs to left-handed hitters in 346 at-bats during career.

Justin Wilson, LHP – Posted a 3.46 ERA, 3.64 FIP, and struck out 11.4 K/9 in 54.2 innings for the Cubs last season. That’s the good, the bad is back-to-back seasons of 5.4 BB/9 and his 1.43 WHIP in 2018. The 31-year-old did see his fastball velocity dip to 95.26 mph, his slowest in six years. Wilson was very successful at cleaning up messes in 2018, he stranded 37 of 40 inherited runners. Key Stat: Line drive rate against Wilson jumped from 18.3% in 2017 to 24.4% this past season.

Tony Sipp, LHP – After two bad seasons, the 35-year-old had a bounce back 2018 campaign with a 1.86 ERA, 2.41 FIP, and 1.3 bWAR. Big part of his 2018 success came from allowing only one home run in 38.2 innings. He also gave up just 27 hits and struck out 42. The veteran lefty was solid against both righties (.608 OPS) and lefties (.557 OPS) in 2018. Key Stat: Average velocity on his fastball (92.31 mph) and slider (83.41 mph) both were higher than the previous three seasons.

Adam Warren, RHP – The 31-year-old had a 3.14 ERA, 3.94 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP in 51.2 innings between the Yankees and Mariners in 2018. He did set a career-high with his 9.1 K/9, but also saw his walks jump from 2.4 BB/9 in 2017 to 3.5 BB/9 last season. He’s a rare reliever that throws four pitches (fastball, slider, curve, change) and has experience as a starter in the big leagues. Key Stat: Fastball velocity dipped from 93.0 mph in 2017 to 91.9 mph in 2018.

Nick Vincent, RHP – Somewhat surprising non-tender by the Mariners after posting solid numbers (3.62 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.15 WHIP) in three seasons with the team. He did have a career-high 3.99 ERA, and a 3.75 FIP in 2018. He still did fine limiting hits (8.0 H/9) and walks (2.4 BB/9) though he allowed seven home runs in 56.1 innings. Key Stat: Threw a cutter 54% of the time last season, fourth highest in majors.

Oliver Perez, LHP – The former Mets starter was surprising dominant last season with a 1.39 ERA, 1.74 FIP, 1.3 bWAR, and 0.74 WHIP for the Indians in 32.1 innings. He held hitters to a .153 AVG and didn’t allow an extra base hit to right-handed hitters in 48 at-bats. The 37 year olds 30.0 K-BB% ranked fifth among relievers behind Edwin Diaz, Josh Hader, Sean Doolittle, and Dellin Betances. Key Stat: Perez threw his slider a career-high 49% of the time in 2018.

Other names still available include RHP Ryan Madson, RHP Sergio Romo, RHP Bud Norris, RHP Tyler Clippard, RHP Brad Boxberger, LHP Jerry Blevins, LHP Jake Diekman, and LHP Zach Duke.

That’s just to name a few solid options the Mets still have to look at this offseason. They have Seth Lugo, Jeurys Familia, and Edwin Diaz at the back-end of the pen, but after that it starts to get dicey between lack of experience and MLB success.

The post Taking Inventory of Free Agent Relievers appeared first on Metsmerized.

Buster Olney of ESPN reports the Cleveland Indians will be listening to trade offers for all of their veteran players. This includes high profile players like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Yan Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion.

This news comes on the heels of the Indians not extending a qualifying offer to Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, and Michael Brantley.

The news of the Indians looking to trade off their top players is very interesting. The Indians are just two years removed from an American League pennant, and they were the only team in the AL Central to have a record over .500 this season. Judging from the rest of the division, if the Indians were to stand pat, it is likely they be the favorite win the division going away again.

That said, the Indians did see their attendance drop last season, and they were ranked 21st in attendance among Major League teams. This is one of the reasons why Forbes has ranked the Indians as one of the least valuable teams in the Major Leagues.

It should be noted with the Indians holding onto Jose Ramirez, and Francisco Lindor this does not appear to be a full rebuild, but rather a re-tooling of the roster with cheaper players.

Overall, it will be interesting to see what moves the Indians make this offseason and how those moves will change the balance of power in the different divisions in baseball.

The post Indians Willing To Trade Veteran Players Including Kluber appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets have made the hiring of Callaway official, via their official Twitter account. The team will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. (ET) to introduce the new skipper.

This post is being updated.

Update, Oct. 22 – 2 p.m.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the New York Mets are set to name Mickey Callaway as the new manager of the team.

A three-year deal is being finalized today and an announcement can come later this evening or on Monday morning.

Callaway, 42, has been the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians since 2013 and was considered a very hot managerial candidate. His only experience has a manager came in 2008 for Texas A&M International University where he was 19-37.

Congratulations to Mickey who is an excellent choice by Sandy Alderson.

Original Article

Like Alex Cora, Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway has emerged as one of the hot managerial candidates. Also like Cora, Callaway has no professional managerial experience.

Despite that, many are believers in Callaway’s ability to manage a team including his manager Terry Francona. During last year’s World Series, Francona said of his pitching coach, “Mickey has been beyond his years or beyond his experience,” Indians manager Francona told MLB.com during last season’s World Series. “He’s so good. I mean, the game doesn’t go too fast for him. You look over at him in the dugout, and he’s got a great demeanor. I think if Mickey wants to manage, I think it’s just whenever.” (MLB.com).

The main basis why you’d hire Callaway is his work with Indians pitchers since 2010. His fingerprints are all over this team with him serving as a minor league pitching coach, minor league pitching coordinator, and finally the pitching coach. Over the past three years, the Indians have had a top-two American League team ERA with Cleveland leading the majors in that category this year.

Overall, the Indians pitching has been so great that Fangraphs posited this season they could be the greatest staff ever.

As with most pitching coaches, it’s the talent on the staff that makes the pitching coach. The Mets need not look any further than Dan Warthen there. In 2015, he was a guru with a staff excelling using his “Warthen Slider.”  This season, some Mets pitchers were injured and others helped put up a historically bad season leading Warthen to be reassigned in the organization.

As with any manager or coach, it’s talent. What separates Callaway from the pack is he seems adept at not only developing pitchers, but also rejuvenating careers. Aside from the work he’s done with Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, we’ve seen him help Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir rejuvenate their careers.

As Callaway tells it, this is a byproduct of his empathy and experience saying, “You have all this knowledge from all these people and you’ve tried things out. Did they work? Did they not work? I think it’s a little bit easier when you’ve had that type of career.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer).

Other people in the Indians organization, including his manager and pitchers, point to Callaway being a communicator who deeply cares about his pitchers. Callaway works with pitchers to make methodical rather than radical changes, and he presents information to pitchers and decides with the pitcher where the focus should be.

Combine these traits with his learning under one of the best in future Hall of Famer Francona, you have the makings of a great manager.

However, this obfuscates the fact Callaway has no professional managerial experience and the fact many pitching coaches struggle to make the transition from pitching coach to manager. Put in another sport context, pitching coaches are routinely seen as great coordinators but lousy head coaches.

One of the reasons why is for the first time, that pitching coach is entrusted not just with half a team but a whole team. He is the one now making calls on in-game strategy and pitching changes. He’s got to work with pitchers and hitters. Some are never quite able to rise to that challenge.

What the Players Say:

Corey Kluber: “He doesn’t think he’s got all the answers.  Whether it be a scout or front office, analytical guy, he’s open to anything and everything.”

Justin Masterson: “Everyone wanted to say, ‘Do this. Do this. Do this.’  You have a guy who came in and said, ‘Tell me what you’re feeling. Tell me what’s going on. Now let’s see if we can work this in your terms of what you think is right and what you want to do.’ I think in the end, that’s what helped him.”

Cody Allen: “He understands that. He doesn’t want to be that overbearing guy that says, ‘Man, you have to do this. If you just did this, you would be able to do this.’ If there is something in there that you could possibly get more out of, then he may bring it up and leave it up to you. But he’s not going to say, ‘You need to do this.'”

Recommendation:

For those concerned about him being just a pitching coach, Joe Maddon went from Los Angeles Angels pitching coach to a three-time Manager of the Year and World Series champion. He also served in other roles in that Angels staff including being Terry Collins bench coach.

Other examples of successful pitching coaches who became managers include Bud Black and John Farrell. Both should serve as informative for Callaway because he considers Black as a mentor, and Farrell was a former Francona pitching coach turned manager.

The moral of the story is good communicators tend to make good managers. Smart baseball people who bring out the best in their players can become great managers. That’s what’s so enticing about Callaway.

In the end, of all the people the Mets have interviewed, Callaway is the highest risk, and he could be the highest reward.

The post Mets Officially Tab Mickey Callaway As Manager appeared first on Metsmerized.